Correspondence
by SexySloth
Summary: Sometimes it is as simple a thing as putting quill to parchment to change a life. Will Severus get a happy ending? Will his life be changed for the better? Read to find out! SS/HG pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Something new while I shake this writer's block on my other two stories…Hope you enjoy!**

**Usual disclaimers apply. I own nothing. Not even the poem. That's Frost.**

**READ AND REVIEW!**

**SS**

**Correspondence**

Prologue

_Ah, when to the heart of man_

_ Was it ever less than a treason_

_ To go with the drift of things,_

_ To yield with a grace to reason,_

_ And bow and accept the end,_

_ Of a love or a season?_

- Excerpt from 'Reluctance' by Robert Frost

It was breakfast in the Great Hall, and it was Wednesday. Severus Snape, had settled down to his cup of coffee and bowl of oatmeal, his normal morning repast. His eyes scanned the crowd from behind the brim of the steaming mug and he paused after a sip or two to simply take stock of what he saw. The owls were flying in as they did every Wednesday morning, the great fluttering of wings like the rushing of the wind across the moors would sweep through the lofty hall and cries of delight would echo through the crowd of youngsters below. Severus Snape almost choked on his food at the sight because he remembered so well the joy it was when one would get a letter. He remembered because he had seen it on everyone else's face as a child. He recalled well the look of joy on a classmate's face when down swooped an owl from on high with parcel, card, or parchment attached. He would watch their face change with the anticipation, the reaction…the end result. It was not always good news, of course, such is life. But it is rather nice to get a letter every now and then. Severus could not remember a time when he received a letter-a real batch of correspondence in his youth. Watching the students below him now made him feel bitter all over again and with one last swallow of his luke warm coffee, he rose silently from the table and made his way down to the dungeons.

He did not, with all his observance that morning, notice the pair of eyes watching him from nearby.

TBC!

**Hope you enjoyed…although it's really only the very beginning of things. But as they say, you've got to start somewhere!**

**Any comments? Reviews are always enjoyed by me.**

**S**


	2. Chapter 2

**Please enjoy and review! Usual disclaimers apply. EWE, for your pleasure and mine. Also…for the story's sake…I'm making some shit up. It may be a little AU…but then again, anything in which Severus survives is AU, so that's not exactly a huge deal. Here's hoping it all makes sense!**

**SS**

Chapter 1: A Little Intrigue With Your Tea?

Minerva shook her head as she mentally tut tutted at Severus' exiting form. She had known him long enough to know when he was upset by something, and she had also known another student, now turned teacher for quite some time. Head tilted down, she looked at the young Professor Granger at her side from behind her spectacles with a gentle, grandmotherly smile. "Try not to worry quite so much, Hermione, dear. Professor Snape is, after all, a grown up. He most certainly is not one to desire your pity. He's a curmudgeonly old bastard who is wallowing," she said to the young woman who was still gazing after Severus with a furrowed brow and a thoughtful look behind her sharp eyes.

"I know, Minerva. It's just…he looked so sad. I feel so sorry for him," Hermione said with a note of sadness in her voice.

"My goodness, he'd have your head if he'd heard you say that," Minerva McGonnagal exclaimed. "Severus Snape has a very long and very dark past, but the one thing he despises above almost anything else is pity. If you are looking to develop a friendship with Severus-which incidentally might do the both of you a bit of good," Minerva said as an aside, which made Hermione frown a bit in confusion, "then pity is most certainly not the way to go." Hermione looked up at her former teacher and current colleague and mentor curiously.

"Do you honestly think that Professor Snape would ever want to be friends with me?" Hermione laughed a little, recalling her past encounters with Severus Snape. "I'm not sure I follow you."

Minerva sighed. "It's a very complicated situation Hermione. I wish I could show you…wait a minute…" the elder witch paused, a light bulb suddenly going off. She tap, tapped a long, bony finger against her chin as she thought. "There may be a way…Come with me dear Girl. There is something I must show you." Minerva motioned for Hermione to follow her, and with one last dab of her napkin against her lips she rose and followed Hogwart's headmistress out of the Great Hall.

After leaving the hall, Hermione saw that they were going towards the Headmistress' offices and she was quite befuddled, really as to what exactly was going on. "Headmistress…er, Minerva," it was still rather odd for her to refer to Minerva by her given name, "What exactly did you want to show me?" They were at the stone Gargoyle now, it's imposing face only a foot away and Minerva seemed lost in thought. They had been standing there a full minute when Hermoine's question brought the older woman out of her reverie.

"Goodness, I'm sorry, Hermione! I seem to be woolgathering. Kerfuffle," she shouted, and with that the stone gargoyle swept aside revealing the winding staircase that was so familiar to Hermione from her school days. She realized, now as she mounted them with Minerva three steps ahead, that the last time she was in this office was when she was hired at the beginning of the school year. After having received her Mastery of Transfiguration with a minor concentration in Elemental Potions Theory, Hermione had gone to France for a time as head of the Transifiguration department of the French Ministry of Magic. After a year and a half, though, she had begun to grow quite homesick for England, and when Minerva had written of her new post as Headmistress in one of their monthly correspondence back and forth, Hermione had jumped at the chance to take over as Transfigurations Professor at Hogwarts.

It had been strange coming back, especially since the last time she'd been there was just after the war to take her NEWT exams. She had felt like the world was at her fingertips. She'd had so many plans laid out. It didn't take Hermione long to realize that what they say about best laid plans rings true. She and Ron had made a fair go of it. But after a year of more fighting than loving, Hermione decided to listen to some advice from The Beatles: "…and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make…" and cut her losses. They'd parted amicably enough, and were still friends, but things were not really the same between them after that. It was the end of an era, really, and Hermione had been heartbroken on her first Christmas without a Weasley sweater under her tree. Molly hadn't quite accepted the fact that Hermione wasn't going to become her daughter-in-law.

Still and all, it had been lovely to be back at Hogwarts, the place of her childhood. There was a memory attached to each corridor…every nook and enchanted cranny, every secret and not so secret passageway and even every professor had a story or a memory. It had been a shock to see Professor Snape, at the time. Her memories of him were mostly hostile ones…all of his sarcastic jibes, scathing remarks and insults…and his lackluster approval of her performance of potions. She laughed remembering how hard she had tried to impress him. Seeing him, again, after all that time was strange…but he had changed. He was softer than she remembered. Not physically, no, his presence was still all consuming and overwhelming at times. But emotionally, he seemed less harsh. He was certainly less mean. At least, to her face. At the first staff meeting he'd simply looked at her with those piercing dark eyes and nodded solemnly. He'd never been anything but quite polite, if impersonal. But he was mostly, always alone.

"Hermione…are you quite well?" Minerva's voice broke through Hermione's day dreamings and she jumped slightly as she found herself still standing at the entranceway to the office.

"Sorry! I suppose I too am doing some woolgathering today." Hermione laughed to herself as she thought of Professor Snape's black worsted wool teaching robes.

"Not to worry, Hermione," Minerva said cheerfully, motioning for Hermione to sit down before the great desk. It was more orderly now than it had been in Dumbledore's time, but that didn't stop it from being a little bit intimidating. Hermione took her seat and gratefully accepted the cup of tea Minerva was offering.

"Let me tell you a little bit about Professor Snape as a young boy…" Hermione's eyes grew wide. This was not exactly what she'd expected. "And let me warn you, if Severus were ever to find out I'm telling you any of this…he'd hex me into next year, so mind your tongue, won't you dear?"

Hermione nodded and settled back into her chair, intrigued to say the least…

TBC

**Reviews are always welcome!**

**SS**


End file.
